News
De la Ossa plans golden celebration
2005-12-09
Juan Carlos de la Ossa is adamant despite a recent injury he can challenge for the SPAR European Cross Country this weekend in Tilburg. The Spanish star runner-up for the past two years behind Ukrainian Sergiy Lebid has recovered from a sore ankle which halted his early season racing programme.
Despite the setback de la Ossa feels he can mount a real challenge against favourite Lebid who last year in Heringsdorf won the title for a record fifth time. De la Ossa said: “My preparations haven’t been perfect because of my ankle problems, but they have still been good enough to make me feel that I can be among the leaders in Tilburg."
The 29-year-old from La Mancha until picking up the minor problem was having the best season of his career particularly on the roads when becoming the firest-ever Spaniard to run under 28 minutes for 10000 metres. Now he is determined to fetch that form to the Netherlands venue on Sunday and spearhead his country's challenge for team honours.
Last year the Spanish side despite his high silver medal placing,were run out of the medals by France, Italy and Great Britain. "If I can’t be in contention for the individual title then I still want to run as well as I can to help the team," said de la Ossa although confident his produce a solid personal showing.
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